Family of dead boy sues county

Negligence, lack of training alleged in wrongful-death suit

By Jeremy Pawloski | The Olympian • Published March 18, 2009

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The parents of an 8-year-old boy who died after his grandfather fired a cannon that exploded at an outdoor Fourth of July celebration in 2007 have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Thurston County.

The suit alleges that emergency responders canceled a medical airlift by a helicopter "for no good reason," instead transporting the boy to a hospital by ambulance, contributing to his death.

Devan Vyborny, 8, died of blood loss after shrapnel struck him in the chest and severed his aorta during the party in the Littlerock area, Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock has said. The aorta is the artery that carries blood from the heart to smaller arteries.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Vyborny's parents in Thurston County Superior Court. It names Thurston County, Thurston County's emergency dispatch center, Thurston County Medic One and Airlift One as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges emergency personnel first dispatched a Yelm-based emergency aid unit to the scene "instead of a closer Tumwater-based unit."

"When the emergency medical unit arrived, Thurston County Medic One personnel began administering first aid," the suit reads. "However, the Medic One personnel appeared overwhelmed by the situation and witnesses observed that they did not know which emergency devices to use on Devan � the proper intubation tube as one example. It is alleged that Medic One personnel were negligent in the performance and/or lacked proper training in their administration of aid to Devan Vyborny."

The suit also states that Medic One personnel were seen asking fire department personnel which medical instruments should be used to intubate Vyborny.

A Thurston County emergency dispatcher said after 5 p.m. Tuesday that the director of the 9-1-1 call center was available for comment during normal business hours. The Olympian did not obtain a copy of the lawsuit until after 5 p.m.

In the past, officials with Medic One and Thurston County's 9-1-1 dispatch have referred questions about the allegations made by Vyborny's parents to a county spokesman, who has declined to comment.

The suit alleges that Medic One personnel requested a helicopter transport for Vyborny, but it was canceled, and "Medic One personnel failed to transport Devan to the hospital in an urgent manner and appeared to lack any sense of urgency."

Emergency personnel "anxiously" waited at the scene for a helicopter that never arrived, the suit states. "Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity to the family, the family had to beg the Medic One personnel to transport Devan to the hospital by ambulance," it says.

The suit alleges that when Vyborny finally got to the hospital, he was still alive.

"The death of Devan Thomas Vyborny was directly and proximately caused by the direction of the above-named Defendants to not properly train and supervise Medic One and 9-1-1 Dispatch/Call center personnel, by the gross negligence and breach of the standard of care for emergency medical first responders in treatment and transport of Devan Vyborny and the gross negligence of cancelling a medical airlift in the middle of an emergency and for no apparent reason," it says.

A tort claim that was filed against the county last year stated that the damages sought by Vyborny's parents might exceed $47 million. The lawsuit was filed by Seattle attorneys Ronald Gomes and Dean D'Mellow.

Jeremy Pawloski covers public safety for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5465 or jpawloski@theolympian.com.